Alibang Waterfall, Yangmingshan 阿里磅瀑布, 陽明山
Misty mountain waterfall
The northeast corner of Yangmingshan is probably the least visited part of the park. The network of trails around here is a little rougher and less complete, and some areas require permits to enter. Most visitors stick around Mt Qixing and the Datun Peaks and so you're likely to have trails to yourself out here. There are some great hikes centered on the steep and rugged Zhuzishan and one will take you to Alibang; the tallest waterfall in the park.
Alibang river valley
Monkey on the way to the trail. Don’t feed them!
This hike starts at the Zhuzishan Old Trail entrance near a farmhouse off the Bei 22 road. Search for 竹子山古道 on Google Maps. It's really only reachable by driving as public transport out here is very awkward. Walk around the perimeter wall of the houses. The trail climbs immediately up on the right. It's a rough unpaved trail but it is quite easy to follow. On the way we saw a couple of tiny snakes and some large birds of prey taking off after the rains. In total this hike took about four hours including a rest at the waterfall so it's easily done in a day.
A small mock viper
A weird scarecrow in the farm terraces
Alibang isn't a raging torrent very often so it's best to visit after recent heavy rains. We managed to choose a day that itself had heavy rains and we were soaked by a heavy thunderstorm in the first hour. The trail becomes a small stream in these conditions and it can be a bit slippery. The first couple of hours are entirely uphill and entirely within the forest. On the way you'll pass a small Earth God Shrine giving protection for all who use the path. Many years ago this would have been a trading route between the northeast settlements and the Taipei basin.
At the top of a ridge is a clearing with a distant view of the waterfall. For us it was just visible through the low clouds and although it looked miles away it really didn't take very long to reach it.
Alibang is in a very scenic valley with thick forest and a jumble of boulders. You can get right to the base of the falls but I'd recommend taking river shoes for this part as it was quite slippery. There's a small pool at the base and if it were a little hotter that day I'd have jumped in.
After a while relaxing at the waterfall we could hear thunder approaching so decided to head back. There is apparently a small network of trails here that can lead to the peak of Zhuzishan or provide an alternative route back to the highway. However blogs mentioning them are quite old now. The trails were almost impassable then, so I'm not confident about their current existence. We decided to head back the way we came rather than blunder around in a thunderstorm looking for rough trails!
A quite vicious looking plant, I haven’t seen thorns coming out of leaves before!
Fortunately though the sky was dark and the thunder was all around us there was no rain. Emerging from the forest we were surprised to see mostly blue skies and an amazing full rainbow. The change was surreal and unexpected, I guess the storms had dissipated behind Zhuzishan in no more than ten minutes.
Starting the drive home over Yangmingshan